Calendar correction mechanism for a watch movement



Dec. 3, 1968 G. DUBOIS ETAL 3,413,800

CALENDAR CORRECTION MECHANISM FOR A WATCH MOVEMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet l Flled June 6, 1966 Dec. 3, 1968 G. DUBOIS ETAL CALENDAR CORRECTION MECHANISM FOR A WATCH MOVEMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 Filed June 6, 19 66 United States Patent 3,413,800 CALENDAR CORRECTION MECHANISM FOR A WATCH MOVEMENT Georges Dubois and Fernand Cherbnin, Grenchen, Switzerland, assignors to A. Schild S.A., Grenchen, Solothurn, Switzerland, a company limited by shares of Switzerland Filed June 6, 1966, Ser. No. 555,478 Claims priority, application Switzerland, June 17, 1965, 8,473/65 7 Claims. (CI. 58-58) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A date correcting mechanism in a calendar timepiece wherein the date indicator can be advanced simply by means of a person axially displacing the winding stern of the movement, the winding stern being operatively associated with the date indicator driving means which is driven by the watch movement to automatically advance the date indicator every twenty-four hours.

The present invention is directed to an improved date indicating mechanism in time watches.

It well known to provide a time piece with a date indicating device in addition to the usual hour, minute, and second hands thereof. Since the calendar months vary as to number of days therein, it is necessary that a date indicating device include a date correction means which functions, for example, to advance the mechanism by one day at the end of a thirty day month or by three days at the end of a twenty-eight day month.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved date correction means in a date indicating device which is incorporated in a time watch movement.

This object and the manner of realization thereof will become clear from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment which is referred to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a partial plan view of a device according to this invention with the parts thereof being in a first operative position;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged partial sectional view taken along line II-II in FIGURE 1; and,

FIGURE 3 is a view corresponding to FIGURE 1 but showing the parts in a second operative position.

In the drawings, only those parts have been shown which are pertinent to arriving at an understanding of the calendar mechanism, those parts of the watch which are not pertinent to such an understanding not being shown.

The disclosed watch comprises a pillar plate 1 on which is rotatably mounted a circular date ring 2 whose inner peripheral surface includes thirty-one teeth 3. A radial surface of the date ring has marked thereon numerical characters from one to thirty-one corresponding respectively to each one of the teeth 3, said characters being individually visible through a Window provided in a dial plate which extends over the pillar plate 1. The dial plate and the numerical characters are not shown in the drawing.

With reference to FIGURE 1, the ring 2 is normally displaced in the counterclockwise direction. A earn 4 which has a tooth like projection 5 pivots on a shouldered screw 6 fastened to the pillar plate 1. Cam 4 is driven in a counterclockwise direction to the extent of one revolution every twenty-four hours through its being firmly or rigidly connected with a calendar wheel (not shown) which is in engagement with an element of the watch movement. The calendar wheel may, for example, be in 3,413,800 Patented Dec. 3, 1968 engagement with a wheel rigidly connected to the hour wheel of the movement.

A rocker 8 is pivotally mounted on a stud 7 fastened to the plate 1 by means of stud 7 extending through an elongated opening '9 in said rocker 8. Elongated opening 9 permits the rocker to be pivotally mounted on said stud 7 while also permitting axial displacement of the rocker in a manner and for purposes which will be explained below. Rocker 8 is configured so as to include a tooth 10 and a triangular-shaped nose portion 11 each located on opposite sides of pivot pin 7. Tooth 10 lies in the rotary path of nose 5 while nose 11 rests against one of the teeth 3. A click 12 is pivotally mounted on rocker 8 by means of a flat headed stud 13 which is fastened to the rocker by being crimped around an opening in said rocker. Stud 13 includes a smooth cylindrical pin .14 which extends axially beyond the surface of rocker 8. A spring plate 15 is fastened at one of its ends to the pillar plate 1 and includes a resilient arm 16 having a free end which bears laterally against a boss 17 formed along the edged surface of the rocker 8 between the opening 9 and the nose 11. Spring 16 serves to normally maintain rocker 8 pivotally biased in a counterclockwise direction relative to stud 7 with the nose 11 hearing against the teeth 3 and with stud 7 bearing against the left-hand end of opening 9, with reference to FIGURE 1.

Click 12 is biased in a clockwise direction by a spring wire (not shown) mounted on the rocker 8. Click 12 thereby is urged against a pin 31 also mounted on the rocker.

Date ring 2 is normally held stationarily in place by a jumper member 18 of well known construction which is pivoted on the plate 1 and held against the toothing 3 by means of a spring wire 19.

In order to make date corrections, as for example, at the end of a thirty-day month, it is necessary to advance the date ring by one day so as to indicate the first day of the next month, and for this purpose the disclosed mechanism also includes a date correcting device. Said device comprises a long correction lever 20 which is pivotally mounted on the pillar plate by means of a shouldered screw 21. Said lever 20 extends along the periphery of the movement frame from the vicinity of the winding and setting mechanism to the rocker 8. The end 22 of lever 20 passes axially adjacent the date ring 2 (below said date ring with reference to FIGURE 1) and has an inclined edge portion 23 which extends across the cylindrical pin 14 of stud 13. A spring blade 24 also mounted on plate 1 bears against lever 20 and urges it in a counterclockwise direction relative to pin 21. The end of lever 20' opposite to end 22 is in contact with a setting lever 25 of the watch movement winding mechanism. The winding mechanism includes a spring 29 which bears against a pin 30 mounted in the setting lever 25 and thereby biases the setting lever 25 in a time setting and winding position.

Lever 25 is pivoted on a pin or screw 26 which is located in the vicinity of an opening 27 formed in the pillar plate 1. This opening includes an enlargement in which the winding pinion is engaged and this arrangement permits the clutch pinion to mesh with the setting wheel of the movement.

The rocker 28 of the winding mechanism of the movement is shown in winding position and moves radially inward under the action of the setting lever 25 when the winding stem 32 is brought into time-setting position. A slot 33 provided in the pillar plate 1 permits the stud of the setting lever as a matter of fact to penetrate in the customary manner into a groove of a stem 32. The latter has, like certain known winding stems, a third position which can be obtained by exerting a pressure on it from the winding position. The setting lever 25 is then moved in counterclockwise direction as seen in FIGURE 1. This pivoting movement results in a clockwise displacement of the correction lever 20 into the position shown in FIGURE 9. The stud 13 is thereby pushed by the inclined edge 23 and this causes the rocker 8 to pivot clockwise around the stud 7 against the action of the resilient arm 16. During this displacement, the click 12 comes into contact against the righthand side of one of the teeth 3 by which it is engaged. Click 12 slides over the tooth surface and in so doing retracts and jumps over this tooth. In the position shown in FIGURE 3, the click 12 has jumped over tooth 3 and is entirely behind the said tooth while bearing again against the pin 31. When the winding stem 32 is released the springs 24 and 16 assure the rapid return of the entire mechanism into the position shown in FIGURE 1. During this return movement, the click 12 comes against the back-side 34 of tooth 3' which it jumped over during the clock winding movement but since click 12 is prevented from pivoting by pin 31, it pushes against the surface 34 of tooth 3' and thereby carries the date ring forward by one step in counterclockwise direction.

As in the customary mechanisms, the jumper 18 assures the precise positioning of the ring 2. Therefore, a depression of the winding stem 32 is sufficient to correct by one unit the date figure visible in the opening of the dial.

On the other hand, the rocker 8 and the click 12 carry out movements exactly identical to those which have just been described when the nose 5 passes from the position shown in FIGURE 1 to the position shown in FIGURE 3 during the rotation of the calendar runner with which it is rigidly connected. Between these two positions, the rocker 8 pivots progressively cocking the elastic arm 16. However, in the position shown in FIG- URE 3, the rocker 8 is suddenly freed and instantaneously returns into the position shown in the FIGURE 1, the click 12 also causing the date ring 2 to advance by one step. The mechanism described therefore assures a rapid changing of the date both automatically under the effect of the movement and manually by means of the winding stem.

It will finally be noted that the triangular shape of the nose 11 and the elongated opening 9 assure the possibility of driving the cam 4 manually in one direction or the other as desired. As the runner which bears this cam is connected to the hour wheel, which in its turn is in engagement with the minute wheel which meshes with the setting wheel, the rotations of the winding stem 32 in time-setting position can be efiected without danger in both directions. The rocker 28 of the setting mechanism is then displaced in counterclockwise direction with respect to the position shown in FIGURE 1 under the action of the setting lever 25 which is driven by the stem 32. If the nose 5 comes into contact with the finger 10 of the rocker 8 while the cam 4 turns in clockwise direction, the rocker 8 is moved parallel to itself, guided on the one hand by the side of the triangular nose 11 which rests against one of the teeth 3 of the ring 2 and on the other hand by'the elongated opening 9 the orientation of which is selected so as to permit this displacement.

The mechanism described, therefore, assures in simple manner a rapid changing of date indications and makes it possible to effect a date correction, such as at the end of a thirty day month, by simply exerting an inward pressure on the winding stem.

The afore-described preferred embodiment is given by way of illustration only and is not intended to be limitative of the scope of the claimed invention, any modifications Which do not depart from the disclosed inventive concept and any obvious substitutions or modifications of parts being intended as falling within the scope of the attached claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A watch comprising a time movement and a date indicating member, said member being displaceable according to a repetitive cycle consisting of thirty-one increments, drive means connecting said movement to said member, a rotatable winding and setting stem operable to wind and set said movement, said stem being axially displaceable from its winding and setting position into a separate date correcting position, said drive means comprising a rotary member associated with said movement to turn one revolution every twenty-four hours, a displaceable date-setting member engaged with said date indicating member and with said rotary member in a manner whereby for each turn of said rotary member said datesetting member is displaced an amount whereby it displaces said indicating member by one said increment, a date correcting means associated with said date-setting member and with said winding stern in a manner whereby axial displacement of said stem into said correcting position acts through said correcting means to displace said date-setting member independently of said rotary member an amount suflicient to displace said indicating member by one said increment, said date-setting member being displaceable in a date correcting direction independently of said rotary member.

2. The watch of claim 1, wherein said date correcting means comprises a pivoted correcting lever one end of which is associated with said date-setting member and the other end of which is associated with said winding stern whereby axial displacement of said stem into said date correcting position causes a pivoting of said lever and a consequent displacement of said date-setting memher.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein said date-setting member is a pivoted rocker drivingly engaged with said date indicating member and with said rotary member in a manner whereby for each twenty-four hours of operation of said movement said rocker is driven by said rotary member to pivot to a cocked position relative to said date indicating member, said one end of said lever being associated with said rocker whereby a pivoting of said lever causes a pivoting of said rocker to said cocked position.

4. The watch of claim 3, including a resilient spring means acting on said correcting lever to bias it to a neutral pivot position relative to said rocker, said winding stem acting through a setting lever whereby axial displacement of said stem causes pivoting of said setting lever, said other end of said correcting lever slidingly bearing against a portion of said setting lever whereby axial displacement of said stern into said correcting position pivots said setting lever and correspondingly pivots said correcting lever, both said levers and said stern being automatically returnable to neutral position under action of said spring.

5. The watch of claim 3, including a click pivotally mounted on said rocker, tooth means having a front and a back side on said date-indicating member, first spring means pivotally biasing said click towards said tooth means, second spring means pivotally biasing said rocker in a driving direction relative to said indicating member, said rocker normally resting in a first position whereby said click extends along a front side of said tooth means, said rocker being pivotable against the bias of said second spring means under the pivoting action of either said movement or of said correcting lever to pivot to said cocked position whereby said click is slid over said tooth means to a position along the back side of said tooth means, said rocker being pivotable under the action of said second spring means from said cocked position back to said first position with said click abutting against said tooth means back side.

6. The watch of claim 5, wherein said rocker comprises an elongated pivot hole through which passes a circular pivot pin, said second spring means biasing said rocker to a position with said pin bearing against one end of said hole, a rocker drive cam drivingly connected to the hour wheel of said movement so as to rotate one turn every twenty-four hours, said rocker and said cam having interengaging contact surfaces so configurated that rotation of said cam in accordance with forward motion of said hour wheel causes said cam to pivot said rocker about said pin While rotation of said cam in the reverse direction causes said cam to linearly displace said rocker with said pin sliding along said slot.

7. The watch of claim 5, wherein said date indicating member is a ring having thirty-one teeth along a periphery thereof, said click normally extending into the space between two said teeth, with said rocker being in said first position, said click being forced to slide over one of said teeth and into a position facing the next following space between respective teeth upon said rocker being pivoted to said cocked position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner.

GEORGE H. MILLER, JR., Assistant Examiner. 

